A cruise ship docks in a fjord arm on Svalbard. The tourists are then taken ashore by small boat to places such as Fjortende Julibukta, Ossian Sars and Bjørnfjorden. In life jackets, the tourists stagger around, while eagerly taking pictures. If they are lucky, a polar bear might appear in the distance. Such trips are popular on Svalbard, and in 2019 alone, tourists disembarked in 224 different places, figures from the Governor show. But according to the Norwegian Environment Agency, this activity also has a downside, namely the strain it places on Svalbard’s vulnerable nature. Traffic on Svalbard must therefore be regulated much more strictly, according to a recommendation that the Norwegian Environment Agency is sending to the government today. Introduces drone ban Among other things, the directorate will limit the number of places where tourists can disembark. A limit will also be introduced on the number of passengers a ship can have on board when sailing in the protected areas. Flying drones in protected areas is prohibited. In addition, tourists must stay several hundred meters away from polar bears. Trond Flydal is head of the legal section for natural diversity in the Norwegian Environment Agency. He justifies the tightening by saying that Svalbard is in a special position. It is enshrined in the legislation that nature on the archipelago must be untouched. Nevertheless, many places on Svalbard are characterized by increased traffic. Trond Flydal is head of the legal section for natural diversity in the Norwegian Environment Agency. Photo: Terje Trobe / Norwegian Environment Agency – In some of the most popular places to go ashore, the tracks are very clear. The wear and tear just gets bigger and bigger, Flydal tells news. At the top comes climate change, which reinforces the need for austerity measures. – There are a number of animal species that are struggling due to a changed climate, and that makes them extra vulnerable to increased tourism. Svalbard is a popular tourist destination, many people want to experience nature there. But it also presents some challenges that we are now trying to regulate, says Flydal. Concerned about development Tourism in Svalbard has increased steadily over many years. An example of this is the increase in registered disembarkations from cruise ships. In 1996, 29,600 disembarkations were recorded on Svalbard. In 2019, the number had increased to 108,000. Last year, there were more than 80 boats operating commercial tourism activities on Svalbard, which is a record, according to the Governor. By summer, at least as many vessels are expected to the archipelago. The development has long worried the conservation authorities. Preserving Svalbard’s distinctive nature is one of the overarching goals of Norway’s Svalbard policy. Therefore, the government decided in 2019 to investigate new measures to limit the overall environmental impact from tourism and other traffic on Svalbard. Three polar bears walk across the ice in Svalbard. The so-called Svalbard population amounts to an estimated 3,000 individuals. Photo: Jon Aars / Norwegian Polar Institute The final proposal from the Norwegian Environment Agency is now available, which can be summarized in the following main points: In the protected areas, disembarking can only take place at 43 selected locations. According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, the locations that have been selected must be able to cope with increased traffic. (In addition to these 43 locations, it is still possible to disembark outside protected areas and in protected areas in Isfjorden). Ships sailing in the protected areas can have a maximum of 200 passengers on board. Today, there are no restrictions on the number of passengers for ships sailing along the west coast of Svalbard. A ban on searching for polar bears is proposed, and a distance limit of 500 meters is to be introduced. You must also keep a distance of at least 150 meters from walruses. There will be a ban on motor traffic on sea ice after 1 March on several selected fjords. It will be prohibited to fly drones in protected areas and at bird cliffs. Wanted to send the proposal back The protests from the travel industry were strong when the draft of new environmental rules was sent out for consultation in 2021. – The proposals hit our part of the industry very hard. It will have major financial and practical consequences, stated Frigg Jørgensen of Aeco, which is the umbrella organization for the companies that offer expedition cruises in the Arctic. Together with the destination company Visit Svalbard, Aeco demanded that the proposals be withdrawn. Instead, the main points in the consultation proposal are maintained. Tourists from a cruise ship have gone ashore somewhere on Svalbard. In 2019, tourists disembarked in 224 different places. Photo: Astrid Rommetveit / news Trond Flydal of the Norwegian Environment Agency acknowledges that the tourism industry in particular will feel the restrictions on their bodies, as the hearing has also shown. “Disproportionate”, “intrusive” and “too restrictive” are just some of the characteristics of the proposed rule changes. At the same time, he says that there is a limit to how much activity nature on Svalbard can tolerate. – The challenges that, for example, polar bears face due to climate change have had the heaviest weight, says Trond Flydal in the Norwegian Environment Agency.
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The Norwegian Environment Agency wants traffic on Svalbard to be severely tightened – news Troms and Finnmark
